The present technology relates generally to systems and methods for model predictive control of an adaptive-cycle gas turbine engine with a power-thermal management system.
Gas turbine engines are produced for both commercial and military air vehicle propulsion. For large commercial platforms, high bypass ratio (BPR) fan engines are typically employed. High BPR fan engines enjoy a relatively high efficiency, as manifested by a low specific fuel consumption. Military platforms, on the other hand, typically employ engines having a high power to weight ratio, which are high thrust, low BPR engines, e.g., for interceptor, fighter and fighter/bomber platforms. Although military aircraft gas turbine engines may exhibit a high thrust to weight ratio, e.g., relative to commercial transport aircraft engines, such engines typically do not achieve the efficiency levels seen in commercial aircraft engines. Rather, such military aircraft gas turbine engines have a higher specific fuel consumption. In order to provide military air vehicles with longer range capability, including under supercruise operating conditions (that is, supersonic flight without the use of thrust augmentation devices, such as afterburners), as well as to provide the high thrust levels preferable for short take off and aggressive maneuvering, it is desirable to have an adaptive, or variable, cycle gas turbine engine. In particular, it is desirable to have a gas turbine engine that may achieve the lower specific fuel consumption typically associated with high BPR engines, and which may also achieve the high thrust and high power-to-weight ratio typically associated with low BPR engines.
Future military aircraft will have considerably more electronics (for countermeasures, jamming, directed energy weapons, etc.) than what is used today. The future aircraft will need megawatt (MW) levels of cooling instead of kilowatt (KW) levels of cooling used today. Current thermal management systems do not supply such large amounts of cooling power. There is a need to provide cooling for on-demand heat loads combined with aircraft fuel tank heat sink storage. On-demand cooling means being able to supply short duration high cooling loads and low cooling load during the majority of the aircraft mission time. Bursts of high cooling loads or power are required during high powered flight and directed energy weapon operation.
The move toward More Electric Aircraft (MEA) is present for both commercial and military aircraft. The MEA trend describes the rapid increase in demand for on-board electric power. For commercial aircraft the main driver is efficiencies gained using electric-powered Environmental Control Systems (ECS) and electric actuation leading to decreased fuel burn. For military aircraft, MEA benefits are not only used for increased range, but can also translate into increased capability. While MEA provides opportunities for system-level improvements, there are associated challenges. These include the maturation of flight-qualified electrical components, complex system design and interaction, and additional thermal loads originating from electrification of aircraft systems.